8 things to know about the change to semesters

1. Students move to semesters in the 2019-2020 academic year. 

2. The new academic calendar will be 38 weeks long.

A 15-week fall term
A 3.5-week J-term
A 15-week spring term

3. Current juniors and seniors are on schedule to graduate before the transition.

Current sophomores will be seniors when Augustana transitions, and current first-year students will be juniors.

4. There’s a transition guarantee.

No credits or coursework will be lost in the transition. In fact, the college guarantees it.

5. Weekly meetings are being held to help students understand the transition and answer questions.

Students are encouraged to stop by and talk with transition coordinators Dr. Jayne Rose or Prof. Gillian Lederman.

6. Students will benefit from J-term.

J-term, which stands for January Term, means students will spend 3.5 weeks in January studying a topic in depth. Students can choose J-term classes on campus, or they can choose to study abroad during that time. Many new study-abroad options will be available for students wanting to travel in January. 

7. Billing will change.

The tuition billing cycle previously paid in three installments (to align with trimesters) will now be split into two installments (to align with the semesters).  Fall semester bills will be sent in late July 2019.

There will no extra charge for on-campus J-term courses, and no refund will be provided if students choose not take a J-term.

Spring semester bills will be sent in January 2020.

8. The start of the school year will change.

The first day of classes under the new semester calendar typically will be in early September. For 2019-2020 academic year, the first day of classes will be Sept. 3, 2019. 

Fall semester will run from September to December. 

J-term will run for 3.5 weeks in January. 

The spring semester will run from early February to late May each year.